MVP PK to ZOTAC semi-finals over Virtus.pro

MVP PK have defeated Virtus.pro 2-1 (Inferno 16-13, Dust2 5-16, Mirage 16-11) to advance to the ZOTAC Cup Masters semi-finals.

The third quarter-final of the day began on MVP PK's pick, Inferno. Virtus.pro got off to a good start on the back of their newest addition's, Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki, 1v2 clutch in the pistol round, grabbing the first four rounds as Terrorists.

The Korean side responded with the fifth round, as the Poles couldn't plant the bomb in time, and went on to equalize the scoreline. Keun-Chul "⁠solo⁠" Kang & co. found little success in the remainder of the half, however, while Virtus.pro stormed to a 10-5 halftime score on the offense.

MVP PK quickly lowered the deficit after securing the first four rounds as Terrorists, with Seon-Ho "⁠xeta⁠" Son locking down the first gunround with a quad-kill. Virtus.pro replied with a shoddy half-buy, but they were unable to string more together and MVP PK reached their 14th round.

Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski stepped up with a sneaky play in banana that allowed him to get a triple and bring the score to 13-14 once the Poles' double AWP setup worked its wonders. However, a rush B call from MVP PK brought them to map point, which they quickly converted into a 16-13 victory on the first map after a late explosion on the A bombsite.

Dust2 followed as VP's pick and it was clear from the start that they had the upper hand with a dominant defense. It wasn't until the ninth round that MVP PK managed a response, with Min-Soo "⁠glow⁠" Kim grabbing four kills, but they were reset immediately after and Virtus.pro racked up a 14-1 half.

The pistol round went the Poles' way, as well, and even though Hyun-Pyo "⁠XigN⁠" Lee pulled off an ace in the second round and glow topped it off with a 1v2 two rounds later, it was only a matter of time before NEO & co. secured map two at 16-5.

The decider, Mirage, saw snatchie's triple claim the pistol round for Virtus.pro, but they couldn't fend off the following forcebuy from the Korean squad. With XigN at the helm, MVP PK started running away with the match, leading 8-2 before VP put their foot down.

With a couple of successful executes, Michał "⁠MICHU⁠" Müller's side broke their opponents' bank and managed to close out the half with seven rounds to their name thanks to plays from MICHU and NEO, who clutched a 1v2 and a 1v3, respectively.

Switching over to Terrorists, MVP PK extended their lead once they secured the pistol, as well as a dangerous third round in which XigN added a 1v2 clutch to his name, which led to a 14-7 scoreline. Virtus.pro started climbing back and managed to reach double digits, but it was too little, too late, as MVP PK clinched match point and shortly after finished off the series at 16-11, 2-1.